Bucking the trends: team training has all the elements for a fitter future

Are you one of those people who joins a gym with the best intentions, train for a month or two, then find after that you’re going less often? And then your membership is up for renewal and you feel you have wasted it and are no closer to your fitness goals?

Sebastian Ellis is a local business owner and qualified fitness coach who has worked in the industry for more than 10 years. He says that for many people, going to a gym and exercising alone without direction and coaching is not engaging, fun or challenging enough to achieve high levels of functional fitness.

Even worse, going to the gym can result in a negative experience that turns people off exercise and structured functional fitness. Undaunted by the challenge of opening a business in an already competitive industry, Sebastian opened Elements4Life, which, he says, addresses the problem of individualisation, intensity and community inclusion. Nobody wants their gym membership going to waste when results and better fitness habits are what they really want.

“We believe coming into a gym is like joining a community, where you’re encouraged, coached and supported, and where you want to be every day because you’re accepted, and have coaches and training teammates who are part of your experience every time you come in,” says Sebastian.

“We train harder than most and we teach people how to get to awesome levels over time.”

The Elements4Life Team Training Centre at Harrison – and soon to be Belconnen Markets, opening in November 2020 – focuses on providing a higher level of coaching from its qualified coaching team, ensuring realistic fitness goals, with coaching and progression part of the experience.

Sebastian says his coaching team concentrates on sustainable training and ensuring individuals integrate and adopt a healthy routine.

“Being a coach is much more than writing a fitness program and then hoping for the best,” he says. “It’s a daily, ongoing commitment, and we’re serious about getting people into shape and creating the right environment for them to feel comfortable.

“It starts with the initial courage to walk through the door, asking for help, starting and continuing a fitness journey.”

Elements4Life uses smart technology as part of its programming to deliver enhanced experiences in a team environment which build a strong community of people with a similar purpose who support each other’s ambitions and goals.

“We like to make sure everyone’s first experience with us gives them a feeling of acceptance, that they’re included, and that there’s a community of people just like them,” says Sebastian. “We’re empowering people to use functional fitness and to improve every aspect of their life and lifestyle.

“Fitness is an essential part of a good mental health regime and we need to acknowledge that.”

In the long term, Sebastian is hoping to expand the Elements4Life community across Canberra. He keeps membership of his fitness program at a level where every individual can be properly coached and supported. He says if he expands Elements4Life, it will be done carefully and won’t be a gym-on-every-corner approach.

“We want to keep that sense of community we’ve built at our current E4L Team Training Centre, and make sure every single member is supported with good coaching,” he says. “We’re not the sort of place where you are given a generic fitness program by a coach, then cross your fingers that you will succeed. We believe in creating an encouraging environment where everyone can connect.”

For those already participating in training at Elements4Life, the ideology is effective and it works. Members train hard and it gets results. Sebastian says the community he and his team encourage and nurture has been incredibly supportive during COVID-19 lockdown, which classified the fitness industry as a non-essential service.

“We know how essential your E4L Team Training Centre is for your immune system, your fitness and mental health,” he says.

“We are so fortunate to have the awesome members we’ve got. We’re incredibly grateful for them and thankful we have built such a great community of people who want to support their fitness and local business. Elements4Life, in the end, is their training space and special place.”

Elements4Life is currently offering memberships at its E4L Team Training Centres, as well as virtual memberships.

For more information, head to the Elements4Life website, or call 0414 437 889.